Kotor The Musical
by writtenrhythm
Summary: Yep, you read the title right. A walkthrough of the first KotOR game, complete with music, dancing, and plenty of things going BOOM!
1. You know its a bad morning

**Authors note- Hello! I'm not sure how exactly this story will turn out, but I'm here to give it a try! The songs are- "What Hurts The Most" By Rascal Flatts, and "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" by Drowning Pool. I recomend listening to them first, or while your reading to understand what's going on with the music. I'm going to use real songs, just so you guys will be able to hear the melody and understand how the lyrics go. I might change the lyrics up though, skip a line here or there, or things like that. Should be interesting though, but I wanna hear what you guys think. Go read! ^.^**

I sighed, and looked around my desk while reclining in my chair. Another day on the _Endar Spire._ I was recruited on this mission to be an adviser to Jedi Bastila Shan. It was a pain of a job because she wouldn't listen to any one, let alone a low down Captain in the Republic. I don't know _what_ her masters were thinking.

A timid knock came at the door, and I called for them to come in. A green private, probably on his first mission, took two steps in and saluted. I saluted him back and gestured for him to continue.

"Captain Onasi, your orders are too report to the bridge at oh'seven hundred hours tomorrow morning for a meeting with the onboard Jedi. They want to go over specifics of the resistance effort on Bespin."

"Will do." I said, and turned to go back to my work. I looked up again when I realized he hadn't left. He was at attention again, his hand stiff with a salute. I rolled my eyes and weakly saluted him back, breathing a sigh of relief when he left. The door clanged shut with a sort of finality.

Lately this had been my life, dealing with the usual harassment complaints of soldiers, and carrying out the will of the onboard Jedi. Not what I'd imagined I'd be doing in my life. To be honest, I never thought I would stay this long in the Republic, oh no, I had a family on Telos to worry about. But one man had taken care of that. I reached into a drawer and pulled out a hologram. It was old, and a bit decrepit at the edges, but it still glowed blue when I pressed the power button.

I smiled at the beautiful woman who waved at me. Her name was Morgana, and she was holding our newborn baby Dustil. The hologram reached the end of its recording, and they froze in the air. As always, I felt a surge of anger. It had been my fault, all of it had been my fault. If only I hadn't been so _blind,_ if only I could have seen past all of his lies.

When I thought about all the men who betrayed us, who fled to the dark side, one man stands out. Saul Karath. He had been my mentor, practically my father. Now, his very name brought bile to my throat. He had come to me one night, telling me all about the Republics' failures, how it was on the decline. I could tell now that he had been trying to recruit me for the Sith. At the time, I couldn't conceive of it, he couldn't be serious! I had argued with him, he got angry and left. That night I woke up to sith interdictor ships firing upon our base. He had given them the codes to bypass our security. I knew right away what had happened. But that was only the beginning.

He stole a few of our ships with the men on board, including the _Leviathan_. Any one manning the ships were forced to convert, or was murdered mercilessly. It wasn't even that, though. I was on a routine run around the Outer Kwymar sector near my homeworld. I remember the chaos that ensued after the reports of Telos being under attack came in. Nobody wanted to believe it, a full out attack on a civilian planet? Unthinkable! But it was true, it was horribly true!

We arrived too late, most of the cities were in ruins, half of the planet was burning due to the bombs they were dropping. I took a shuttle against orders. I rode down to the surface, where my wife and son lived. I was too late. I found Morgana near the rubble that had been our home. She was just barely alive. I called for the medics but they…they didn't come in time. I never found Dustil, he disappeared that very day. I followed the reports for years, but eventually I stopped. I have been hunting Saul for years now, and if I ever catch up to him, he will regret what he has done, he will _regret _it!

I tossed the hologram back in the desk drawer. Hell of a chance I had stuck on this ship, playing baby-sitter for a bunch of wizened old Jedi. I stood up and walked to the window.

"I'm so sorry Morgana. I just wasn't there in time." I rested my head against the cool glass, and allowed a single tear to fall. I slowly straightened up, but kept one hand on the glass. I quietly hummed a few bars of a familiar song to myself. Morgana had loved to sing. I would watch from the doorway as she had sung lullabies to Dustil as a baby. Sometimes she had even convinced me to join in.

"I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house…" I sang softly, "That don't bother me." It had been one of her favorites, and I had teased her about her taste in music.

"I can take a few tears now and then and just let 'em out." My voice slowly gained strength, and I could almost hear her singing along with me. "I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while, even though going on with you gone still upsets me. There are days, every now and again I pretend I'm okay, but that's not what gets me."

"What hurts the most, is being so close. And having so much to say, and watching you walk away. And not seeing that loving you…is what I was trying to do." Morgana had begged me to give up life in the Navy, so we could return to her homeworld. I had convinced her to stay, at least for one more year. She stayed on Telos because I asked her too, and that was the reason she had died.

"It's hard to deal with the pain of losing' you everywhere I go…but I'm doing it. It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone." I paused and tried to clear the lump in my throat. "Still harder getting up, getting dressed, living with this regret, but I know if I could do it over…" I had to stop, the lump in my throat grew too big to force any more words out. "If I could do it over…" I whispered, "If I could do it over I never would have hurt you Morgana. I wouldn't have been so blind." A flash of light appeared, the familiar rays of a ship dropping out of hyperspace. I felt the jolt of being caught in an interdictor ray.

"What the frack?" I said, all emotion forgot. I was a battle hardened soldier now. The ship rolled with a few shots, and just before they threw the shields up, I got a glimpse of the attacking vessel. The _Leviathan._

XXX

_Do your duty, and get the Frack out of here. _I chanted to myself yet again. I had been onboard the_ Endar Spire _for almost two and a half weeks. Even though I had been a soldier, and was used to the hustle and bustle of onboard life, I had hoped I was out of the Republic for good. I had earned my stripes during the Mandalorian wars, and quickly resigned after the last treaty had been declared. After which I had gone on a well deserved vacation. It was nice to be able to travel the galaxy and not have to kill or blow up everyone I met.

I had heard the rumors about a growing sith presence, and like any good civilian, I had promptly ignored it. I had done my time; let them get some other smart wit fool with a blaster. I thought I was in the clear right up until the sith had reached occupied Republic airspace. Then I had to deal with recruiters begging for me to join back up. Hard to say no when they'd quarantined my ship and put me on the no fly list for shuttles. It was either join back up for Credits! Glory! and Adventure! or sit on some backwash planet. Yeah, I found myself reporting for duty in no time.

"Hey Fiona!" called one of the few corporals that didn't make my skin crawl. "Wanna play some pazaak?"

I wrinkled my nose in distaste at the colorful cards. "No thanks. Any game where you cant call in an air-strike is crap." He laughed and nodded, and went off to find some other card shark. I for one was off for some shut-eye. Coming back from the gym, I ducked into the refresher first and grabbed a quick shower. I snuck down the short hallway to my room. Already feeling the effects of exhaustion, I crawled into my bunk in my underclothes. I snuggled down into my uncomfortable mattress, relieved with the knowledge my bunk mate wouldn't be off duty for a few hours.

The ship rolled violently and I rolled out of my bunk. I squirmed to get loose from my attacking blankets that had mysteriously gotten wrapped around my legs while I slept. I sat up and started pulling on the rough fabric, furiously ignoring the compromising situation I was in. Sitting on the floor with your legs incapacitated while wearing nothing more than undergarments wasn't a sight that would rally troops. On second thought, maybe it would.

I had just managed to stand up when my door slid open. I brought my hands up to protect myself when I saw the familiar head of white blond hair. "Trask." I breathed, "Thank goodness it's you."

He had come racing in, taken a double look at my attire, and adverted his eyes. Always the gentleman. "The _Endar Spire's_ under attack. We have to get to the bridge and help Bastila!"

"Right." I muttered while tugging on a pullover workout shirt. No need to make the sith die laughing. He might had been worried about the Jedi, but I was more concerned about our immediate survival. "Have they managed to board yet?"

"Only the advancing party. If we hurry, we can get to the bridge before the main fleet arrives. Let's move out!" He poised his hand over the door controls while I grabbed my vibroblades and tucked a small pistol in my belt.

"Let's go." I said, and he nodded and pressed the button.

We opened the door to a hail of blaster fire.

"Get down!" Trask hissed in my ear, and pulled my arm down. We slid into the cover of a sparking repair droid. The sith refused to stop firing, and I could hear the durosteel of the droid beginning to melt.

"We cant sit here all day," Trask said, "What are we going to do?"

Battle lust gleamed in my eyes. "We're going to…let the bodies hit the floor."

He blinked, "We're going to what?"

"Let the bodies hit the floor." I whispered again.

"What's wrong with you?" Trask muttered.

"Let the bodies hit the…" two blaster shots hit the door behind us, resulting in a shower of sparks that blurred everyone's vision. "Floor!" I yelled, and charged after the sith. I ducked under a few extraneous shots while simultaneously pulling out my vibroswords.

"One, nothing wrong with me!" I yelled. The first sith I came to didn't even have a chance to pull out his swords. I sliced through the thick black material of his uniform, effectively slitting his neck.

"Two, nothing wrong with me!" I trust my other sword up though the second siths stomach and into his chest. The blood-soaked sword barely peaked out of his back. I let it fall with his body.

"Three, nothing wrong with me!" I parried the third sith's attack with my own sword. While he was distracted, I grabbed his blaster from his holster. Spinning around his body, I aimed and shot him in the back of his head.

"Four, nothing wrong with me!" I used the barrel of the blaster to block the last sith's vibrosword attack. Kicking him back, I knelt quickly and retrieved my other sword from the second sith's chest. While he stumbled, I crossed my blades and decapitated him.

I turned back to where Trask was slowly standing behind the droid. He nodded appreciatively at me. "Let the bodies hit the floor." he said.

"Let the bodies hit the floor!" I answered.

"Let the bodies hit the floor!" we both roared at each other through the battle high. We laughed, happy we were both still alive.

I wiped my blades on one of the bodies while he hacked open the next door. I stepped delicately around the bodies, now that the blood lust had faded I felt slightly queasy. I jammed the other doors in the hallway while Trask worked to get the door in our path open.

"Let's see what's behind door number three! I muttered as it slid open. Thankfully, it was a much more welcome sight than the last one had been. We sprinted down the vacant hallway until we reached the grub hall as we soldiers liked to call it. I looked at our choices from a tactical view. We could chance the cafeteria, which was wide open and could be suicide depending on who was in there, or we could take the roundabout way through the portside dormitories which would take longer but would be safer. As I looked into Trask's eyes, I knew which path we where taking. I pressed open the cafeteria's door and quickly ducked inside. I quickly sent up a thank you to whoever might had been listening. The place was deserted of any living, although the dead and dying lay everywhere. Apparently the sith had already been through here. I did a quick check to see if there was anyone without a mortal wound who we could save. My gut churned with guilt as we picked our way through the bodies. I wasn't a medic, and we were running short on time. The most I could do was hand my pistol to a dire looking young private with a extremely painful looking gut wound. We where almost to the other side when an explosion of colors caught my eye.

It was a pazaak deck, scattered in a sick rainbow. A puddle of blood stained the inner rim of cards. Unable to look away, I followed the scarlet trail to its maker. It was the same corporal who had offered me a game of pazaak. He had been shot multiple times in the chest and had the eeriness of the recently deceased. My tears prickled slightly until training kicked in and I started functioning on auto-pilot. There would be time to grieve later, as long as I got out of here soon enough. I backed up when I realized that if I had stayed for one harmless little game, I could have been laying on the floor next to him.

"Let's just go." I whispered to Trask. He nodded mutely and followed me the rest of the way to the bridge. We had to fight a few more sith soldiers, who I incapacitated quickly and emotionlessly.

When we reached the bridge door, Trask gave me a small nod. "This side or the other." he whispered as a quick moral booster or a farewell, whichever one would be more appropriate after the battle. The door slid open to a quick blast of fire and a sloppily thrown flash bang.

After some fancy sword work and some lucky shots we managed to empty the bridge of unfriendlies. I did a quick scan of the bodies, looking for the familiar brown of the Jedi's robes. I motioned us on when I didn't see any, although I didn't know yet if that was good are bad. I grabbed a communicator off one of the dead soldiers and radioed in for orders. We were told by a crackling voice to abandon ship.

"Man, that was Carth Onasi! If he said things are bad, you better believe it." Trask told me.

"Then let's not stand around here admiring the pilot, let's get out arse's out of here!" I told him.

We were almost to the escape pods when we heard a weak thumping against a door. It almost sounded like a person banging on it.

"There's someone behind here," Trask said, walking forward, "They could be hurt."

"Trask, don't! We don't have time to help them if they are-" before I finished speaking he had the door open. I barely had time to note the dying Jedi who had thumped on the door before the hum of a light saber made me look up. He looked evil, black billowing robes tinted red from the weapon. Trask gave me one last look before slamming the door shut in my face.

"You frackin' di'kut! You bloody idiot!" I yelled at him through the door. I heard a muffled yelp from the other side that sent me running. Trask had sacrificed himself for me, and I wasn't about to let that go to waste. I paused right before I opened the next door. Looking back to where Trask had disappeared, I whispered a final goodbye. "I'll see you on the other side, brother." I shook the tears out of my eyes and kept going. I couldn't count how many men and women I had seen die in battle, and it never got any easier.

I was almost to the escape pod chamber when I heard laughing behind a door. Of course it happened to be the one I needed to get through. I saw a nearby computer console and a plan started forming in my mind. I quickly typed in my pass code to log into the mainframe. Typing in a convenient code I managed to memorize, I just happened upon the security network. I opened up the camera files and quickly found the one for the next room. The laughter I had heard was a sith armada in the next room, torturing a Republic soldier. Anger boiled in my veins, and for a split second I contemplated rushing headfirst in there and slaughtering the mass of them. Reason decided to argue this point, saying that I would most likely be shot down before I managed to take them out. I needed a different plan.

I examined the war droid on the other side of the room. I was good with repairs, but it would take time I didn't have. The sith were finishing up with the soldier. I heard a blaster shot echo through the console and through the wall. They shot the soldier and by the looks of it were getting ready to pack out. I needed them dead, now. Glancing back at the screen I saw a power conductor in the other room Perfect. A quick override of the system and a couple dangerous power movements later, the power conductor overloaded and killed everyone in the room.

I had to manually open the door as the power surge had shorted it out. I glanced down in pity at the poor soldier, a sergeant by his uniform. I bent down and closed his eyes, feeling a pang of sorrow for the man I'd never met. I started for the escape pod chamber when a weak gurgling caught my attention. A sith soldier in the corner of the room had escaped complete electrocution.

"Please…" he cried out, "Please help…me." I looked him over once with cold eyes. I then bent and picked up the Republic soldiers blaster that was lying a few feet away from him. I carefully aimed it at the sith and fired twice. Bending down again, I placed the weapon in the Republic soldier's hand and curled his fingers around it. I straightened and walked out of the room without a second glance.

The door opened to another blaster pointed at me. I rolled my eyes yet again. I am so getting out of the navy as soon as we get out of here. All this violence and crappy food isn't good for the soul. The blaster wielder finally comprehended my republic stature and lowered his weapon. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Fiona Lea with the Republic navy. And you?"

He cocked an eyebrow with my lack of rank but didn't mention it. Always did like a guy who knew when to keep his mouth shut. "Captain Carth Onasi. And as much as I would love to stand around here chatting all day, this ships about to blow. We can hide out on the planet below. C'mon!" he squirmed into the last remaining escape pod, the small entrance not exactly made for his broad shoulders. I crawled in after him and shut the hatch. "Hold on!" he said mili-seconds before hitting the launch button. Inertia knocked my head backwards into the durosteel plating and everything went mercifully black.

**So there you go. Liked it? Didn't like it? Let me know! Hit that beautiful review button right underneath this text. Anyone who reviews gets a preview of the next chapter! **

**As always, Thanks to my Beta-reader, Rockforthecross74, for putting up with my constant story jumping. Go check out her story, Who I Am Or Who I've Been. It's crazy good! Go now, while you still have KotOR on the brain!**

**So, get ready for a ton of randomness, maybe Mission doing the can-can with bounty hunters in the cantina, possibly having Malak beat-boxing when his technician presses the wrong button. Lots of things in store. So PLEASE review! (If you don't, I'm going to send a choir of singing Ja-wa's to keep you awake at night! Muhahaha!)**


	2. Welcome to the Neighborhood

**Hello readers! Sorry this took so long, but here it is! The playlist for this chapter is, Help Me Understand by Trace Adkins and Rockstar by Nickleback. Happy Reading!**

Carth- I sighed when I walked back into the apartment and saw her still sleeping form. She had been out since we crash landed on Taris, almost three days ago. I didn't want to leave her alone, but I had to eat sometime. I had spent my meager amount of credits on food and medical supplies, and had just won enough to get through the next couple of days by cleaning out a young Sith private who didn't know the first thing about peak.

I set down my small packages, most containing nutrition bars and water, and checked on Fiona. Her condition still hadn't improved. She thrashed around sometimes during her sleep, but no matter how violent she got she remained comatose. I had considered the idea of taking her to a healer, but didn't favor the idea of dragging an unconscious woman through the streets of Taris. I also rejected the thought of having a healer come back to our base. I didn't trust anyone not to turn us in to the Sith, and especially didn't want anyone to know where we were holed up. I could only imagine what would happen to two Republic operatives on the run from the law.

I wet a small cloth and placed it into her mouth, letting the water drip down her throat. It wasn't much, but it kept her from becoming dehydrated. She coughed quietly, and then rolled over onto her side. I sighed again. I had to find Bastila, and get off this Force forsaken planet. Caring for a coma patient didn't fit into those plans.

I knew what I was supposed to do. I knew what other soldiers, better soldiers, would have done. I should never have taken her with me; she was an unnecessary burden, one I should relieve myself of immediately. I looked at her sleeping form, and just knew I couldn't do it. Not because she was helpless or unarmed, or because she was a woman. She was a republic soldier, and if I was going to complete this mission I was going to need her help.

If she would ever wake up that is. She whimpered quietly, almost as if she could read my thoughts and agreed with them. I grunted and shook my head when she sighed and remained comatose. I sat down in a chair that smelt suspiciously of mildew, and dug into a nutrition bar.

Fiona let out an unnaturally loud groan and kicked her feet out from under the covers. Her foot hit an antediluvian radio. By sheer chance, she had managed to hit the power button, and my eyebrows rose when it actually turned on. A small, flickering d.j. hologram floated into existence. "This next song goes out to anyone with unanswered questions, and a broken heart," he said. He flickered into nonexistence, and the band took over the small amount of space he had occupied.

I rose to turn the infernal thing off, when the opening lyrics caught my attention.

"Once," the small blue hologram sang, "In a life time, you'll open up your heart." My hand froze just above the power button. Morgana had sung this song, back before she had been ruthlessly murdered.

"Yeah maybe once, you'll open up your heart. You'll swear to never be apart. You think you're love's on solid ground, then out of the blue, it all comes crashing down." I let my hand drift back to my side, listening to the words.

"Who's gonna hold me tonight, when I'm feeling lonely. Who's gonna show me the light, 'cause I need to know. With all the things we've got, how can love just stop? Tell me, somebody help me understand." Yeah, somebody help me understand how somebody could be your best friend one day, and then murdering your wife and son the next. I rose my hand again to turn the radio off, but Fiona kicked again, knocking the radio off the table where it fell silent. I glared at it for a moment, and then a stretching arm interrupted my field of view. I glanced over where Fiona was sitting up and looking at me curiously.

"Oh, hi," I said, surprised. "T-the radio had turned on and I, um…" I stammered out. I cleared my throat when I saw the corners of her mouth threaten to turn up into a smile. She was laughing at me! I took a breath to compose myself, then said, "Well then, it's good to see you up instead of thrashing about in your sleep. You must have been having one hell of a nightmare. I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up. You've been out for quite a while, almost three days."

She looked at me curiously, "You've been watching me sleep for three days?" Her voice was amused, although a little scratchy due to disuse.

I blinked, shocked. "What? No! No, I mean…" I took another deep breath and started over. "I'm Carth, one of the Republic soldiers from the Endar Spire. I was with you on the escape pod, do you remember?"

She nodded, "Right, the famous pilot. I'm Fiona by the way."

"You've been slipping in and out of consciousness for a couple of days," I mentally slapped myself. She already had made fun of me for alluding to the fact that I had been watching her sleep, no need to reinforce that fact. "Try not to worry. We're safe… at least for the moment."

She nodded, and then took one of the waters from the table. Her walk was unsteady, although her pride refused to allow her to show it. I kept talking to hide any of her discomfort. "We're in an abandoned apartment on the planet of Taris. You were banged up pretty bad when our escape pod crashed, but luckily I wasn't seriously hurt. I was able to drag you away from our crash site in all the confusion and I stumbled onto this abandoned apartment. By the time the Sith arrived on the scene, we were long gone."

She took another hearty gulp of water and nodded at me while she swallowed. "I guess I owe you my life then. Thanks."

I shook my head, not wanting to admit I had just been considering taking her life away because she was a 'burden'. "You don't have to thank me. I've never abandoned anyone on a mission, and I'm not about to start now."

"Well that's a relief," she said. She went to the only washroom in the apartment to wash up some, leaving the door open so we could still talk. I heard the muffled "Ick" when she caught a glimmer of herself in the cracked mirror.

"I'm going to need your help. Taris is under Sith control. Their fleet is orbiting the planet, and they've declared martial law. If that wasn't bad enough, they have also imposed a planet wide quarantine. But I've been in worse spots."

She turned on the sink that only ran cold water. I could hear it splashing down the drain and the temporary silence when she ran something underneath the stream. Probably a towel so she could clean herself up. "You've 'been in worse spots'? I really hope that's not ego talking there, Carth."

I frowned, and then choose to ignore the jab. "Yeah, well, I saw on your service records that you understand a remarkable number of alien languages. That's pretty rare on a raw recruit, but it should come in handy while we're stranded on a foreign world."

She came out of the washroom, her confused expression asking when I had managed to see her records. I silently held up a datapad that had managed to survive the 'landing'. She tossed a damp towel into the corner, and then said, "Anyway, I'm anything but a raw recruit. I served in the Mandalorian wars. I decided to retire, but the Republic didn't like that idea. They managed to find me and pressure me into re-upping. Technically I may only be a private, but call me that and see who gets their arse handed to them first. "

I nodded slowly. That wasn't unheard of, but it wasn't exactly common either. I liked the way she told me that she had served, though. Some bragged about it, others tried to hide it or were ashamed of it. She stated it matter-of-factly, as if good or bad, it was a part of her past and she wasn't flaunting it or hiding it. "Well, no matter what your rank, there's no way the Republic will be able to get anyone through the Sith blockade to help us. If we're going to find Bastila and get off this planet, we can't rely on anybody but ourselves."

She had found the nutrition bars, and was digging in. I tried not to remember how much they had taken out of our dwindling funds. We had to get more credits- and fast. She looked up when I mentioned Bastila. "Who's Bastila?" she asked.

"That smack to your head did more damage than I thought," her petulant expression made me smirk. She narrowed her eyes at me, and I continued. "Bastila's a Jedi. She was with the strike team that killed Darth Revan, Malak's Sith master."

She nodded impatiently. "Yeah, yeah. I know all that. I mean, why is she _here_?"

"Bastila was in command of the Endar Spire when it was attacked. The Sith must have found out she was on that ship, and then set an ambush for us in this system. I believe that she was on one of the escape pods that crashed down here on Taris. For the sake of the Republic war effort, we have to try and find her."

She still looked suspicious, and I didn't blame her. Something about a high-importance Jedi stationed on a medium-defense ship didn't ring true to me. She shrugged off whatever misgivings she had, and then asked, "Do you have any idea where to start looking for her?"

"I've heard some rumors about escape pods crashing in the lower city. I haven't found any way to get down there, though," I told her.

She nodded, and set a purposeful expression on her tanned face. "Well, we're not going to find anything by standing around chatting." She looked down, and wrinkled her nose in distaste, "Got any other clothes for me?"

I fought down the urge to slap myself yet again. Something about this woman was making me feel like an idiot. Why didn't I think of that earlier? "Err, none, sorry. And I just spent the last of out credits on the breakfast you just finished."

She looked mournfully at the wrappers scattered about on the table. "That's unfortunate." She paused, and then looked at me curiously. "Lend me your jacket."

I reflexively clutched the hem of my beloved orange jacket. It had been the last gift I had received from my wife. Despite the horrible orange color, I wore it everywhere, only taking it off to have it cleaned or repaired. "Why?" I asked her childishly.

She rolled her eyes. "Well I can't very well go walking around like this now, can I? Come on then, I don't have cooties!"

I slowly shrugged out of my jacket when I realized there was no way I could get out of this without looking and feeling like a child. I grudgingly handed it over, and she put it on, taking care not to put her arms through too quickly. I think she could sense that it was important, and seemed to move more with more care once she had it on.

"A weapon?" she asked me, looking expectant. I stifled an oath as I handed her the only other gun I had, one baring the Onasi family crest. When she looked at me, her eyes sparkled with amusement. "You're not so good at this sharing thing, are you?"

I coughed uncomfortably, and then gestured toward the door. "Shall we go?" We opened the door at exactly the wrong moment. A Sith soldier, evident by his grey uniform, was waving his blaster around manically towards a group of terrified aliens.

"All right, you alien scum! Get up against the wall. This is a raid!" he shouted, and one of his victims said something in an unfamiliar language. In response, the soldier shot him repeatedly in the chest.

"That's how we Sith deal with smart mouth aliens. Anyone else got anything to say?" he looked around for any takers, when his gaze landed on us. "What's this? Humans hiding out with aliens? They're Republic fugitives! Attack!"

He didn't have one iota of evidence that we were Republic soldiers, but I doubted that mattered to this trigger-happy idiot. I pushed her back into the room, where we took cover against the wall. She leaned over and took out the droids accompanying the Sith in a flurry of bolts, impressive with an unfamiliar gun. She ducked back inside, leaning back up against the wall.

Unexpectedly, the Sith soldier came around the corner. In the space of a heartbeat, he aimed his blaster at Fiona and I saw his finger begin to tighten on the trigger. I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind to get the attention off her.

"She's pregnant!" I shouted, and the soldier pointed the gun back at me. His distraction gave Fiona the split second she needed to grab the blaster out of his hand and pistol whip him with it, knocking him out cold.

"Pregnant?" she asked, looking at me curiously.

I shrugged indifferently, "It worked, didn't it?"

She made an indifferent noise, and then kicked the soldier with her boot, "You know, you really ought to do something about your neighbors."

xxx

We headed off to the cantina at Carth's insistence, after the blue duros alien assured us he would hide the Sith idiot's body. I preferred to clean up my own messes, but I agreed with Carth that we needed credits, and the sooner the better. Walking around in a florescent orange "shoot me" sign-that was two sizes too big no less-was not my way of staying hidden.

As we were heading down the walkway that connected the northern part of the city to the southern, I noticed how Carth kept shooting death glares at anything pertaining to the sith- soldiers, embalms, you name it. "Hey man, chill it with the looks. Getting arrested on suspicion of sabotage is _not_ the way I like to start off my day."

He then turned his death glare on _me_, "You expecting me to _like_ being stranded on a Sith occupied world?"

I squirmed under his gaze because, let's face it, while his milk chocolate eyes were cute, right now they looked downright threatening. Maybe even dangerous. "Noo..." I said, drawing out the word. He turned his head back to stare down a glinting uniform clanking past. "All I'm saying is that if you keep staring at them like _that_," I poked his cheek and he turned back to me, startled, "They might get the right idea and think that we're up to no good." I paused for a second, "Besides, it'll give you wrinkles."

"Hmm..." he mimed noncommittally, while absentmindedly rubbing his cheek. My guess was that he didn't get poked by soldiers too often, what with him being a commanding officer and all. I could tell he wasn't going to take my advice when another soldier walked by and Carth ever so obviously shifted his blaster in its holster. I resisted the urge to face-palm, and decided to distract him instead.

"So Carth, tell me about yourself."

His eye flickered down to me, but this time they were filled with curiosity, not hatred.

"Not much to tell," he said simply. I waited for more, but he remained silent.

"Okay, so you're not good with sharing things about yourself, either. But since we'll be working together indeterminately, I think that we should know a little something about each other." I thought for a second, "Okay, how's this. I'll tell you something about me, and you tell me something about you. For instance, I like tacos. Now something you like would be..."

"Silence."

I glared up at him and prepared to tell him off, but I noticed the small smile lifting the corner of his lips. He was teasing me! Fine, two could play at that game. "Alright, I'll be quiet. But if we're captured by the sith and some freaky dark Jedi decides only to let me go after I tell him my partners favorite food, well you could just walk on out of there scot-free, and I would remain imprisoned, and you would have to deal with it for the rest of your life."

I heard him chuckle quietly before stating, "One, we're not going to be captured, and two, I think a dark Jedi would have more important things to ask you about than what I like to eat."

"You never know," I shot back, "They could be planning to lace it with poison, and then tempt you into eating it."

He chuckled again, before his voice took on a more serious note. "I'm a soldier in the republic, like you. I do my duty and I follow my orders. And, like you I guess, I served in the mandolorian war. But even with all my years in service, I've never seen anything like the onslaught the sith have unleashed, I mean, not even the mandalorians where this senseless!"

He was breathing hard and fast, and I could see the anger back in his eyes. I'd dealt with soldiers like this before, they signed on to change the world and go home seeing only the horrors of the galaxy. "Hey," I said quietly, "The galaxy is an ugly place, and no matter where you look, you're going to find senseless greed and corruption. But at least you're out here fighting it, fighting to make things _right_. That's the most anyone can ask of you."

"I guess that you're right. But that shouldn't mean that I failed them, I didn't!"

I eyed him warily, "Who's 'them'?"

He sighed, "I ah...I must not be making any sense. I'm used to taking action, keeping my head in the game and completing missions. So I'd prefer we did just that, if that's okay with you."

I nodded meekly. Besides, we were nearing the cantina anyway. He caught sight of it and quickened his pace, probably trying to outrun our conversation, and whatever bad memories had come with it. I couldn't let it end like this though, or I'd have a heck of a time trying to get anything out of him in the future.

"Hey Carth?"

He stopped walking, but he hesitated before he turned around. "Yeah?" he asked, eyeing me cautiously.

"You never did tell me what your favorite food was."

The small smile he gave me was worth the entire awkward conversation that we just had. "I never did, did I?" His eyes warmed up a fraction and he gave me another small grin, "Bantha steak. Medium rare."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Bantha steak was such a guy food, and _really_ original for a soldier. Still, I grinned back at him, "Great. I guess I'm safe if the Sith ever capture us."

This time _he_ rolled his eyes before motioning for me to join him. "Whatever. C'mon, let's go take some kids lunch credits."

"Ah, outsmarting young punks to the addition of our bank accounts. Gotta love it." With that, we walked chuckling into the cantina.

"So we need to get some credits together. If you've been in the navy as long as you say you have I'm sure you know how to play pazaak. Am I right?" Carth asked me.

I pursed my lips together unhappily. I _hated_ pazaak. I opened my mouth to tell him so, but then I heard myself saying, "Of course. Every soldier knows how to play pazaak, right?" My eyes widened slightly, but when I realized it wasn't a lie, I relaxed fractionally. For some reason, I felt like this was some sort of test, like he was validating me somehow. Besides, I did know how to play pazaak, just not well.

"Great," he said, "Go find some kids and lighten their pockets. I'll go do some more investigating, see if I can't gather some new Intel on those crashed escape pods."

He left, his black undershirt disappearing quickly into the crowds. _Now what?_ I asked myself. I dug my hands into the gulf that was my pockets, and headed off towards the bar. Maybe I could just pickpocket a few credits off of some poor drunks.

I was passing by some sort of stage when a guitar rift grabbed my attention. A lime green twi'lek, decked out in rocker chic, was stroking out some awesome rhythm on a jet black guitar. I turned and noticed that he had caught most of the rooms attention, as was per his stepped up to the microphone and said, "Come one, come all to Taris's first annual karaoke contest! Think that you've got what it takes to belt it out with the best? Step right up and give your vocal cords a workout! Who knows, you could just win five hundred credits!"

I had started walking away, but stopped short at the mention of the prize. This was it! I wasn't an incredible singer, but my shower head had never complained. I could earn us some credits, and Carth wouldn't have to know that I lied to him. It was perfect! "You got it!" I called out.

The twi'lek looked down into the crowd in my direction, "Who said that?" he asked.

I jumped up on the stage, "I did. The prize is five hundred credits, right? I'll take a shot at it." I told him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! We have a contender! Will she wow her audience, or will you all run away holding your ears? Only the music will tell! Give it up for-" he paused, and looked back towards me, "What's your name?" he whispered.

I thought that he was putting it on a little thick but I answered him. I didn't give him my real name, in case there were Sith in the audience who had come across a crew roster of the _Endar Spire_. "The Mysterious Stranger," I told him.

"The Mysterious Stranger!" he repeated back to the audience. There was some polite applause as he passed the mic over to me and strummed out another few notes on the guitar.

I had never been stage shy, and this time was no exception. "How you doing Taris!" I called enthusiastically.

A few people whistled and shouted, and there was some catcalls thrown into the mix. While the audience was getting itself pumped up, I turned to the band. "You guys know the song 'Rockstar'?" They nodded, and the drummer adjusted his sticks.

I turned back to the crowd, "Are you frackin' ready for this?" I asked them again, and got a more rambunctious response. It was beginning to be apparent that this crowd was always frackin' ready for anything.

"One, Two, One two three four!" I shouted. The drummers kicked it off, leading in the rest of the band. "I'm through with standin' in line to clubs we'll never get in. It's like the bottom of the ninth and I'm never gonna win. This life hasn't turned out quite the way I want it to be."

"Tell me what you want," the guitar player said into his own mic.

I threw out my other hand, the one that wasn't holding the mic. "I want a brand new house on an episode of Cribs, and a bathroom I can play baseball in and a king size tub big enough for ten plus me." I sang, and the audience went wild. I could tell a couple of the men, and some women too, were imagining me in a hot tub right then.

"So tell me what you need," the guitar player sang again.

"I'll need a...a credit card that's got no limit and a big black jet with a bedroom in it. I'm gonna join the mile high club at thirty seven thousand feet." I pointed to the guitar player.

"I been there, I done that," he sang, but now most of the audience sang it out with him.

"I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame, I'd even cut my hair and change my name." I sang and jumped off the stage. "'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars, live in hilltop houses, driving fifteen cars," I started dancing with a burly man that looked like he might be one away from too many. I placed my hand on his shoulder, and ever so gently, ran in down to his chest, laying it right over his shirt pocket. I pulled out some credit chips, the least of which was a fifty, and ever so casually let it run down my abundant sleeves. The man didn't even notice a thing.

"And we'll hang out in the coolest bars, in the VIP room with the movie stars..." I kept singing as I quickly worked my way around my little fan club, pick pocketing the majority of them. By the time I had finished the song my sleeves were dripping with credits and I had to awkwardly accept the five hundred credit prize as to not dump more credits on the ground. I quickly ducked into a refresher to stash the credits in some guys wallet I had lifted, and straighten up my copper hair that had become tousled as I danced.

I was on my way out of the cantina- no sense staying around until people figured out why their pockets where so light- when I saw a young man hanging around a dancer. I couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

"So, for tonight," the guy began, "I was thinking we could get together after I ended my shift at the embassy. A couple other soldiers are getting together for a party, and I'd _really_ appreciate if you'd show up." from the direction his eyes were pointed, I could tell he only really cared if two certain parts of her showed.

I almost walked by the couple, when I heard her decline his offer. He grabbed her wrist, none too gently, and his entire demeanor changed.

"Listen, you complete schutta. You better show up for that party tomorrow night. You're lucky that I'm even talking to you. Maybe you'll finally experience what it's like with a real man." Fear glinted in the young girls eyes, and I decided to step in.

I walked up to them, stepping in between the two to separate them. I grabbed his drink off of the counter and downed it in one.

"What the frack? You better show some damb respect! Do you even know who I am?"

I eyed him up and down. "Yeah I know, why else would I be wasting my time here?" I turned to the girl, "Beat it, honey."

She took off with a grateful look flashed my way. I turned my attention back to the _man_ in front of me. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked, "I could make your life hell for this!" His eyes travelled down my body hungrily, "Of course, I could be open to an apology." He reached behind me and grabbed my arse.

My eyes popped wide and I had to fight the urge to smack him. I was going to snag an invitation to the party, but my plan changed when I saw his blaster tucked into the front of his pants. "Oh, I'm really sorry. I just wanted to get rid of that schutta." I stepped closer, sliding my thigh in between his knees.

He smirked. "Oh yeah? Now just what is a pretty sweet thing like you doing in a big bad bar like this?"

I placed my hand on his shoulder and slid it down his chest. Shame really, a soldier should never let a stranger get this close. "I'm just looking for a big, bad man like yourself." I grabbed hold of the pistol and cocked it. I saw his eyes grow wide when he felt the cool durosteel against his manhood.

I smiled sweetly at him and said, "Come with me or say goodbye to your two closest friends."

**Muhaha! Sorry, I just Love that ending, if I do say so myself. :P So...? What do you think? Remember reviews are better than crack for writers. **

**Thanks goes out to rockforthecross for betaing this!**

**And any songs you wanna see (or read rather**) **feel free to let me know, and I'll see if I can fit them in!**

**Remember, reviewers get a reply AND a preview of the next chapter. So come on, what are you waiting for? Hit that button there and tell me what you think!**


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